Brenden McLean
Staff Writer
The Pride won in dominating fashion on Tuesday, April 16 beating Nichols College, 16-0. The Pride’s bats had a collective total of 24 hits, led by junior Mike McGowan.
McGowan had a terrific day at the plate, going 4-for-5, scoring four runs, and driving in three more to help Springfield capture the win. The bats won the game, but Travis Lane pitched a good game as well.
Lane threw 7-and-1/3 innings while striking out nine. “To be honest I didn’t feel too much of the pressure. I have a relaxed personality when I’m on the mound, no matter the situation, and just enjoyed having fun out there,” Lane said.
CJ Monroe started things off for the Pride doubling and scoring Shane O’Leary and McGowan. In the second inning, the Pride scored four more runs to put the game away and put Springfield up for good.
Nichols had eight hits all game, and their pitching wasn’t much better throughout the course of the day. Chris Bruno suffered the loss, allowing eight runs, four earned, off 11 hits. The defense for Nichols wasn’t much to write home about either as errors caused some of the Pride’s runs.
“We are a better team offensively than we have performed to this point in the season and today showed it,” Springfield coach Mark Simeone said.
The majority of the season the Pride couldn’t score any runs with consistency, but they took advantage of a struggling Nichols team.
The Pride have been eliminated from NEWMAC Tournament contention, but they have many things to play for. They have a good future with young players who could mesh together for next season.
After losing to Elms College on Wednesday, April 17 by a score of 8-7, the Pride will look to rebound against Brandeis University on Saturday, April 20.